Numerous sites, such as universities, pedestrian walkways, government buildings, sports stadiums, military bases, amusement parks, industrial parks, airports, parking lots, playgrounds, shopping centers, malls, hospitals, and apartment complexes have transitways such as roadways, walks, or other open areas from which it is desirable to prevent the flow of vehicular traffic. However, it is imperative that authorized vehicles, particularly emergency vehicles, be allowed entry access to such areas via these transitways.
For example, a university may wish to prohibit vehicular traffic from passing through campus, but has to permit fire and other emergency vehicles access to the campus in an expedient manner. Typically the university will address the provisional access issue by erecting barriers such as chains or gates, eventhough there are numerous disadvantages to such solutions. Gates and chains impede pedestrian traffic and the gate may also pose a safety problem. Moreover, locks or other devices that are used to secure the gates or chains are susceptible to malfunction especially during the winter months. It should also be noted that in the event a lock is used, then keys must be provided to fire and police personnel. It is not uncommon to find that keys are not available or that locks have been changed which could result in a possibly life-threatening delay.
Similarly, portable wooden barricades are an ineffective solution, since two persons are required in order to erect and move them. Portable wooden barricades suffer from an additional disadvantage in that the wooden barriers may be moved or removed by anyone.
As an alternative to gates and chains, rows of fixed spaced posts or bollards may be installed. Fixed bollards permit access by vehicles and allow pedestrians free access, however, their permanence creates an unacceptable barrier to emergency vehicles and an inconvenience to other authorized vehicles. The prior art discloses bollards that are collapsible as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,902 issued to Miller, et al. on May 1, 1991. However, the Miller patent still suffers having a complicated internal locking structure and the device is subject to expensive and lengthy repairs in the event of damage.
Thus there exists a need for a highly effective collapsible bollard design that permits an efficient and economical control of traffic, yet is economical to produce and easily maintained.